Holocaust Remembrance Day and the biggest nazi death camps the nations president s lead the annual march of the living but this year there was tension in the air. Im sorry kelly welcome to the program u. S. President donald trump has said that decisions will be made fairly soon about how to respond to these suspected poison gas attack in syria fears of a confrontation between the west and russia syrias main ally have been running high since trump said on wednesday that missiles will be coming heres what he had to say a short time ago. Theyre were looking very very seriously very closely at that whole situation and. Well see what happens folks will see what happens its too bad that the world puts us in a position like that but you know as i said this morning weve done a great job with isis we have just absolutely decimated isis but now we have to make some further decision so that we may fairly soon thank you all very much. And russias military said that the Syrian Government has taken complete control of eastern go to the last rebel stronghold near the capital that includes the town of duma the side of the suspected poison gas attack over the weekend people have being evacuated from the town. Convoys of buses and making their way out of duma carrying out of the town rebels and their families and with them their hopes of victory against the Syrian Government this is whats left of eastern after years blockaded and bombarded by Syrian Government forces people here too scared to enter the buildings. Come up with that one a look around all the apartment entrances are blocked because of the mines inside i cant get in everywhere see wires and things that trouble me. As smoke rises over duma russia says the area is now under the control of the Syrian Government but it is Russian Military police who are patrolling the streets in line with a surrender deal struck with the rebels at the weekend. Moscow has broadcast pictures said to show resident celebrating and says the situation here is normalizing. Ive read a lot of. Thought for several International Powers these images of saturday suspected poison gas attack in june give no hint of normalcy. The u. S. Britain and france are considering military action in syria in response to the alleged attack syrias allies russia and iran have threatened to retaliate if they do so with turkey israel and other regional powers also involved the u. N. Has warned this conflict could spiral out of control. As u. S. Warships make their way to the region there are mounting questions about where this crisis will lead. And earlier german chancellor Angela Merkel said that germany would not take part in any missile strikes on syria have a listen good chance with germany with a note is obsessive hate and even more Civil Military action but i want to stress again that no decision has been made on this but we acknowledge and support that everything has to be done to signal that this use of chemical weapons is unacceptable and. Lets get more reaction now from europe we are joined from berlin by Political Correspondent simon young and standing by in brussels is our Brussels Bureau chief max hoffman welcome to both of you and simon id like to begin with you because we just heard chancellor Angela Merkel speak there she seemed to be implicitly backing military action but not wanting to get involved where does germany fit in here. You know i think germany wants to be positioned as a firm member of the western alliance thats why chancellor merkel has telephoned with the french president and with other countries and is saying that it wants to be in contact over this issue but it comes as no surprise that germany wont be getting militarily involved i dont think anyone was expecting that and i dont think that it will. You know negatively affect other countries ability to take military action if thats what it comes to but the chancellor also said it was difficult to do nothing and thats why theyre backing pressure from the p c w the International Chemical weapons inspector it and in the un to put the pressure on syria at this time and as that pressure mounts i mean European Countries definitely watching this very closely french president emmanuel knock on in fact has been talking about the gas attack and talked of having proof max over to you now walk us through what exactly is said here and whether or not it might be more likely that military action could be taken there now. Well you did say that at least chlorine was used and that it was used by the regime of Bashar Al Assad so of course this strengthens the case for military action by the french because crawl had said earlier that the red line for him was the use of chemical weapons in syria by the regime of Bashar Al Assad so you can think all right this is basically a go but it doesnt appear to be a go yet although the president said on tuesday that he would decide within days it seemed a little more mellow on thursday saying they would take the decision when it was useful and also efficient what exactly that means is anyones guess but we can guess that its probably also due to the complications in the background because of course were talking about an alliance here with the u. S. And with the u. K. There needs to be coordination with the mixed signals coming out of washington its absolutely possible but that this coordination especially with the states is pretty complicated at the moment and given that complication and in the search for coordination and what about the other European Military having weight the u. K. Because british Prime Minister theresa may is talking with her cabinet today right. She is she is she called the back from the easter break in principle it seems that the Prime Minister of the u. K. Is willing to follow the u. S. Lead here as soon as we know what they actually want to do but the problem and the little twist here is that the opposition at least parts of the opposition are calling for parliament to approve this they dont have to do that its not the law but its sort of a convention and if you look at the history of the u. K. Following the u. S. In two wars in two thousand and three for example in iraq that didnt go too well that this this might complicate matters or even slow them down absolutely indeed simon americal for her part doesnt want to get directly involved as you mentioned earlier but you know she did indicate that if the u. N. Security council took action beyond diplomacy that germany would be supportive what sort of support if she were for and tail yeah its slightly on clear what the chancellor meant boy by that phrase actions beyond diplomacy she does seem to have left the door open for germany to take some kind of further actions that could be supporting the work of the b c w or it could be providing logistical or other support to allies in military action but i think the key thing is germanys emphasis on solidarity and unity with the other International Partners in europe and at the u. N. Simon young and berlin max health and brussels thank you. Lets get a quick check now of some other stories making news around the world the International Chemical weapons watchdog the o. P. C. Wu has confirmed that former russian spy service scribal and his daughter yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent in the english city of sauls wary however the organization stopped short of naming the substance nor did it say where it was produced. These twelve people have been killed after taliban militants stormed a government compound in central afghanistan the gun gunmen overran a district headquarters in province triggering an hours long gun battle at least three of the dead were were to local officials. Afghan Security Forces eventual drove out the insurgents. Algeria has begun the three days of mourning after a military plane crash that killed two hundred fifty seven people the russian built transporter went down shortly after takeoff on wednesday killing mostly soldiers and their family members the accident is the worst aviation disaster in algerias history authorities have ordered an investigation. The Human Rights GroupAmnesty International says the number of reported judicial executions around the world fell during twenty seventeen but the group warns that the true number of people put to death by the state is not known some countries treat executions statistics as a state secret china for example but many others carry out executions in full view of the public. In iran responsible for carrying out small than hoff of the worlds known executions last year thats according to Amnesty Internationals latest because in dozens of those cases that meant public execution in iran Drug Trafficking and blasphemy are among those crimes punishable by death at least five people were executed in iran. When they were still on. The. Just four countries responsible for eighty four percent of all recorded executions last year iran saudi arabia iraq and pakistan but the country suspected of being the worlds leading executioner is china. Its thought to have put thousands to death last year more than the rest of the world put together the because data on the Death Penalty that is a state secrets exactly how many is a matter of speculation. But not counting china twenty seven thousand so the total number of executions worldwide fall by four percent from the previous year. M misty International Says that reaffirms a global trend towards a pollution of the Death Penalty last year a further two countries guinea and mongolia joined the one hundred four who have now abolished Capital Punishment for a second year in a row the us did not feature among the top five global execution is slipping from position seven to eight this is due in part to ongoing legal challenges of the use of lethal injection but as litigation in several states progress is that because the executions. Israelis have been marking their holocaust Remembrance Day when they remember the six million jews murdered by the nazi regime across europe president Reuven Rivlin was among thousands of people who took part in the annual march of the living at auschwitz in poland the site of one of the most notorious death counts now recent polls legislation about the holocaust has cost controversy so there was some tension in the air. A march in memory of the victims of nazi terror at the french the president s of poland and israel more than ten thousand people including youth groups from around the world have come to auschwitz the route leads to the death camp birkenau earlier the young people visited the camp to familiarize themselves with the horrible details of what took place german groups are also taking part. Its very sad to stand here knowing that my great grandmother stood and had here as well as my great grandfather an indescribable feeling. Survivors accompany of the groups and recount their traumatic experiences edward most burgs mother and brother in law were killed here yeah they do have to remember what happened and this age. In the war over the political dispute between poland and israel over the socalled holocaust law is causing uncertainty penalties could be imposed on anyone who blames the polish people or state for nazi war crimes israel has criticized the law because it fears polish accomplices may no longer be identified as a result. I would like to say once again with all my might that it was never the intention of polish politicians to create such a rule which would block bearing witness to the whole the cost. Of the polish Constitutional Court is currently reviewing the law the meeting of the two heads of state at this site of german nazi terror could point towards an amicable resolution of the conflict. Lets turn to rome now in a moment to remember for fans of formula a racing thats the electric car version of formula one and its holding its first ever race in the attorney city pope francis took time to bless a formerly car the pontiff is said to be a big soccer fan and at least for this week he is a racing fan and he also took time to meet some drivers and their family members before the main event on saturday. Theyre watching d. W. News still to come on the program the Supervisory Board of the Worlds Largest automaker meets tonight and big changes are expected and physical and well have all that and more in just a few minutes time youre watching t w im sara kelley in berlin and thank you for joining us. They make a commitment. They find. Stronger